How the board did it

Want to know just how the Toronto District School Board plugged [url=https://streeter.ca/school-board-closes-budget-hole.html]the $109-million hole in its budget[/url]? Here’s a list of the cuts, savings and projected revenue gains it used to balance its books.

Cuts:

$50.8 million in staff cuts including 430 education assistants, 134 school secretaries, 17 vice-principals, 200 high school teachers, 10 caretakers and six hall safety monitors

$9.9-million reduction to facilities services (operation, care and maintenance of board’s buildings)

$4.5 million from reducing number of professional development days

$3.9-million reduction to non-academic central departments (administration)

$2.5 million through reduction to outdoor education program, which the board expects to make up through provincial government funding for outdoor education

$300,000 reduction to individual school budgets

Savings:

$9-10 million from a Ministry of Education operational review (which likely include cuts)

$2.5 million by redeploying non school-based educational administrators and teachers

$2 million by recovering the full cost of supply teachers and replacement staff for board employees doing business on behalf of federations, unions, and other organizations as well as those on long-term secondments (one time only)

$1 million by closing school board buildings during Fridays in the summer and workdays between Dec. 25 and Jan. 1

$600,000 from closing underperforming cafeterias

$400,000 in savings from a central, one-time reduction to school administrator’s professional development

$250,000 in reductions due to attrition for transportation

$200,000 from continuing education by reducing administrative costs and realigning summer school credit delivery to include e-learning

$120,000 from reducing central administration for international languages programs

Projected revenue gains:

$7 million in new Ministry of Education grants to support specific programs, ministry initiatives

$2.2 million by raising permit fees for after school activities by 40.7 percent